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After winning UFC championships at both middleweight and light heavyweight, Alex Pereira‘s debut in the heavyweight division didn’t exactly go according to plan.
Pereria, who squared off with Ciryl Gane for the interim heavyweight championship at the UFC Freedom 250 on the White House lawn, lost via TKO in the second round.
But now the Brazilian is claiming that Gane cheated to win and that the referee for the fight should face punishment after missing several illegal shots to the back of the head.
🚨 Alex Pereira just called out Ciryl Gane for several illegal shots to the back of the head during their fight 😳
“It was a lucky jab and he took advantage… that was the opportunity of a lifetime for him. This guy has a long history of it. Dirty shots, punches to the back of… pic.twitter.com/mmh15xShxq
— Championship Rounds (@ChampRDS) June 16, 2026
Alex Pereira Says Ciryl Gane Cheated To Beat Him For Heavyweight Title
“It was a lucky jab, and he took advantage … that was the opportunity of a lifetime for him,” Pereira said of the jab that initially knocked him down. “This guy has a long history of it. Dirty shots, punches to the back of the head.
“I brought that up with [the referee] ahead of time and asked him to keep an eye on it … If you watch the footage, man, multiple shots, multiple elbows [to the back of the head]. [The referee] is not a man. He shouldn’t have been refereeing that fight. A guy like that should be punished.”
The referee in question is Herb Dean, who has a polarizing reputation in the MMA community for letting fights go on for too long before stopping them.
However, in this case, Pereira says that Dean should have stepped in and called Gane for illegal elbows to the back of the head.
Video of the end of the fight does appear to show Gane landing multiple shots to the back of Pereira’s head. However, they were also part of a much larger onslaught that eventually led to Dean stopping the fight.
What do you think? Does Pereira have a case, or is he just making excuses? Let us know in the comments below!